Derek Ridgers: Talking Photography

EVENING TALK: Derek Ridgers is one of Britain’s most acclaimed photographers whose work has embraced politics, show business, rock music, fashion and notably street style.

In the era before mobile technology, he documented the extravagant youth culture of the 1980s – a decade of radical social change and sexual liberation when the young adopted nightclubs as their theatre for hedonism and extreme style. Your individual look became your ticket to the coolest clubs.

Working for magazines such as NME and The Face, Ridgers captured the excesses of popular culture from post-punk to the dawn of acid house, and has published a selection in his new book, 78-87 London Youth. In conversation with journalist and 80s commentator David Johnson, he discusses the moment when “ordinary people” stepped up to pose for the camera.

In collaboration with Damiani publications, Derek Ridgers will be available to sign books afterwards.